Dhammapada verse 71
Chapter 5, The Fool (Bālavagga) · verses 60–75
“For a wicked deed that has been done does not curdle quickly like milk. Smoldering, it follows the fool, like a fire smothered over with ash.”
Na hi pāpaṁ kataṁ kammaṁ, Sajjukhīraṁva muccati; Ḍahantaṁ bālamanveti, Bhasmacchannova pāvako.
English by Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0, via SuttaCentral)
What does Dhammapada verse 71 mean?
Verse 71 belongs to chapter 5, The Fool (Bālavagga), which gathers verses 60–75 on the fool. It is filed under wisdom & folly, good & evil. Read it with the verses around it: the Dhammapada arranges chapters as short runs, not as isolated lines, so verse 70 and verse 72 are part of the same passage.
The fool, in sixteen verses. The chapter is not kind about it: the fool who knows they are a fool is at least partly wise, the fool who thinks they are wise is beyond help, and the harm a fool does lands on themselves first. It includes the image of evil tasting sweet until it ripens.
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